May 26, 2016

7": Supermoon - Playland

Supermoon's latest double 7" is bewitching.

Supermoon’s shimmery tinsel guitars, jangling sweetheart melodies, and cotton candy pink album art lure the listener into heeding the emotional morass of bullshit they’re sick of. The surf-pop oldie but goodie sound of this Vancouver quartet is cheeky for the subjects they’re coyly stringing together on Playland. Sex, boys, relationships on stilts and the great enigma of all of the preceding. Glum sentiments that would easily resonate with the all of the Lisbon sisters. However, on Supermoon’s new double 7” there is a lot more than sugary ominous melodies and vague smiles as “they wait by the phone”.

On Playland, everything from micro displays of affection to macro miscommunications can cause distress. However, they never seem too amused by their stressors. Wallowing doesn’t seem half as fun as cutting your stressor off with bewitching lines like “I kinda like sleeping alone” or “His face went dark in the sun / He said the witching hour would come” on “The Witching Hour”. The wispy chanting throughout all eight tracks sound like loose incantations wielded against the hurdles that just seem to multiply themselves. The deadpan repetition of phrases that interject themselves mid-song such as “Inside to outside, outside to inside, inside to outside, outside to inside” on “Fashion Forward” are delivered like the rough draft of a conjuring. As the listener, you can’t be quite sure how this repetition of words necessarily fits into the lyrics surrounding it, but because of your sensitivities and Supermoon’s charisma you feel what is meant and comprehension isn’t really necessary.